Batman Publication History
in 1964. Carmine Infantino's website Later still, he hired a new artist, Neal Adams. Together with writer Denny O'Neil they brought back the old elements that originally defined the character. For a list of some of O'Neil's greatest Batman tales, see Wizard's DENNY O'NEIL'S TOP 12 GREATEST BATMAN MOMENTS. ]] Modern Age TBD ]] | SerialHistory = Batman (1943 Serial) Batman first came to the Silver Screen in 1943's ''Batman'' serial, starring Lewis Wilson as Batman and Douglas Croft as Robin. J. Carrol Naish played the villain, an original character named Dr. Daka. Rounding out the cast were Shirley Patterson as Linda Page (Bruce Wayne's love interest), and William Austin as Alfred. Batman and Robin (1949 Serial) A second serial called ''Batman and Robin'' followed in 1949, starring Robert Lowery as Batman. | MovieHistory = Tim Burton's Batman Batman returned to the big screen in director Tim Burton's ''Batman'' in 1989. Batman Returns After a series of increasingly cartoonish film adaptations, the franchise was reinvigorated in 2005 with ''Batman Begins'', starring Christian Bale as the Dark Knight. Villains included the Scarecrow and Ra's al Ghul. Batman Begins was the fifth live-action Batman movie since 1989 and was a reboot to the superhero's film franchise. It tells the origin story of the character as he takes on crime for the first time in Gotham. It is a significantly darker film, studying the character's inner struggle between justice and vengeance. It received high praise from critics and general audiences, being considered by many as the best of the series, with praise for Bale's performance. The film is followed by a 2008 sequel, ''The Dark Knight''. In it, Batman encounters the Joker and Two-Face. | TVHistory = Batman 1966 TV Series ''Batman'' was a thirty-minute prime time, live action television series broadcast by the ABC Network between 1966 and 1968. Premiering on January 12th, the series featured actor Adam West as the perennial character of Batman, while Burt Ward donned nylon stockings and fairy boots for his portrayal of the erstwhile sidekick, Robin. The series took the tradition of Batman into the uncharted territory of camp, oftentimes mocking the character's heritage with trite dialogue and silly plot devices. The show was noteworthy for its memorable use of onomatopoeia during climactic fight scenes. Despite the clumsy nature of the series however, the show proved popular to many fans, and transformed Adam and Burt into modern pop culture icons. Batman: The Animated Series Batman: The Animated Series ran from 1992 to 1999. The series was based on the exploits of Batman and his crusade against injustice. It was arguably a children's show, yet its dark atmosphere and award-winning writing grew a more mature fanbase. The show is based in modern-day Gotham City, a dark, gothic, crime-ridden area. In 1994 the series was retitled The Adventures of Batman & Robin. It now focused more on Robin in an attempt to appeal to children. The rename and inclusion of Robin did not adversely affect the writing and the series bowed out in September 1995. | RelatedText = | Notes = * The character of Batman was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Later versions of the character were developed further by several creators including Carmine Infantino, Dick Giordano, Dick Sprang and Denny O'Neil. * DC Comics has never made a clear distinction between when the Golden Age Batman stories end, and the Silver Age Batman stories begin. As such, there is also room for interpretation in determining which Bronze Age Batman stories carry over into the modern Post-Crisis environment and which ones should be considered apocryphal. Mike's Amazing World of DC indicates Superman (Volume 1) #76 as the first appearance of the Earth-One Batman. This information is predicated upon the idea that Batman and Superman are meeting each other, seemingly, for the very first time. As the Golden Age Batman and Superman have met each other on several occasions, it is believed by some, that this issue represents the earliest possible appearance of the Earth-One Batman. * In the New Crime Syndicate of Amerika on the new Earth-Two Thomas Wayne, Jr. is the surviving Wayne brother and becomes the costumed adventurer known as Owlman, who, in keeping with the reverse world, blames his father for his mother's and brother's deaths but is later found to have survived the attempt on his life. | Trivia = * In the continuity of the 1966 live-action Batman television series, both Batman and Robin were skilled at a dance manuever known as the "Bat-tusi" (a modified version of the Watusi dance craze of the 1960's). This dance manuever was used as a distracting technique in the live action television series, but was never adapted into any of the defense tactics of the Earth-One Batman (unlike some more humerous tactics such as the Bat-Kite which was used in one case despite being totally impractical). * Prior to becoming the Batman, Bruce Wayne fought crime as a teenager as Earth-One's first Robin. * Bruce Wayne has been played by several actors including: Lewis Wilson, Robert Lowery, Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney and Christian Bale. He has also been voiced by Olan Soule, Kevin Conroy and Rino Romano for his animated adventures. * The character was named Bruce Wayne in honor of Robert Bruce, the Scottish Patriot, and "Mad" Anthony Wayne, the American Revolutionary War general. * A personality trait that creator Bob Kane shared with Batman was a certain fondness for keeping late hours. * Official DC statistics state that Batman stands 6'2" and weighs 210 lbs. Ironically, Christian Bale stands at the same height (as does Adam West), and at the time of filming weighed 210 lbs., effectively becoming the only Batman actor to be a real-life physical match for the role in Batman Begins. *In the original Pre-Crisis continuity, a crime boss named Lew Moxon hired Joe Chill to assassinate Thomas and Martha Wayne. The Zero Hour event retconned the history establishing that the Waynes murderer has never been identified. Recently, it has been suggested that Metallo may have been involved in their murder, but this theory has yet to be confirmed. Superman/Batman #1''Toward the end of Infinite Crisis #6 the crisis changed continuity, reestablishing that Chill murdered Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne and adding that he had been arrested for their murder. *According to Wizard Magazine, Batman is the only DC Comics character who has made an appearance (either as Batman or as Bruce Wayne) every single month of every year since his first appearance in 1939. *Batman (and Robin) are the only DC Comics super-heroes who have ever teamed up with the Hanna-Barbera character Scooby Doo. *Batman's online auction screen name is Fledermaus. It is taken from the German operetta ''Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss. Die Fledermaus was also the name of a super-villain that fought the Young All-Stars during World War II. | Links = * Batman * Bruce Wayne * [http://www.headinjurytheater.com/article32.htm Some shots of the titular character from The Bat and The Bat Whispers] }}